Dragonrise
by Lunnaire
Summary: 500 years ago, dragons went extinct. But Pern has flourished in the absence of Thread. Harper Arya has always loved the tales of dragonriders. But she never expected to find dragon eggs, frozen in time, in the ruins of Fort Weyr. Or for the eggs to hatch and bond to her and her crew. With the stories true, not all of Pern is happy. But just how did dragons die in the first place?
1. The Expedition

**DRAGONRISE**

* * *

**CHAPTER 1: THE EXPEDITION**

* * *

_3.20.507 After Thread._

* * *

Today was the day.

I'd been waiting my whole life for this. Five turns ago, when I first got my knots at only sixteen, I never would've guessed that I would be the one that Masterharper Jurian would pick me for the expedition. I had been one of Jurian's apprentices, handpicked by him after growing up in the Harper Hall. I'd been trained specifically as a spy—to travel Pern, seeking hidden knowledge and lost information regarding the dragonriders of old, to the point that my code name was _Rider_.

Maybe I shouldn't have been surprised. This expedition had _everything_ to do with dragonriders.

I was in my room, making one final check on my gear. I would be gone indefinitely, so I had all of my clothes packed in my suitcase, along with as many toiletries I could stuff into a duffel bag. I didn't have many personal belongings due to my constant travels—just enough clothes to fit in a single suitcase, the metal flute I had made a few years back, a rapier I'd been gifted by a Smithcrafter, and a pistol I'd been issued as soon as I earned my knots. My gun and its ammo were tucked away in the duffel bag. I usually kept it hidden; Harpers typically weren't issued weapons. The rapier was fine, since it was a gift, and it was so obsolete in this day and age that I'd probably never use it.

But after going over everything one last time, I clasped the suitcase shut and zipped up the duffle bag. I took the rapier, still sheathed, and tied the sheath to my belt. I was dressed for travel, wearing a purple button-up shirt over a black cami, jeans, and brown leather hiking boots. It was almost spring, but that was a good a time as any to wear warm, fuzzy socks, too. I grabbed my fleece-lined jacket and shrugged it on.

On the other hand, Tiara, my firelizard, was not too keen on leaving. I'd had her as long as I could remember. She was fairly large for a queen, with gold and cream mottled hide. She was kind of fat from constantly begging for scraps, and the cooks caving and feeding her. Hopefully this expedition would help her lose some weight. I was beginning to question how she could even stay aloft.

The not so little queen let out a dejected croon as she glided over to land on my shoulders, wrapping herself around my neck, sharing images of us curling up in bed together, enveloped by warm blankets. I couldn't help but laugh.

"Sorry, Tiara, but we have work to do," I said.

There was a knock on my door. Frowning, I turned around and went to open it. My eyes widened when I saw who it was. "Masterharper!"

Masterharper Jurian had reached his elderly turns. I wasn't sure how old he was exactly, but he had aged considerably over the past few turns. Only wisps of white hair remained on his bald head, but he wore a full beard, white as snow. His skin was weathered from years of serving the Harper Hall, but his brown eyes were warm and wise. He wore the usual dress shirt, tie, sweater vest, and slacks. Pern may be constantly changing, but Jurian remained the same.

"Arya," he greeted me, giving a gentle smile. As fatherly as Jurian could be, don't let that fool you. The man had become Masterharper for a reason. "I hope I didn't catch you at a bad time."

"No, no, it's fine!" I smiled sheepishly, rubbing the back of my head. "I just didn't expect you to stop by."

"There are a few things I still must tell you about this expedition," Jurian said, getting straight to the point. "Things you need to known as Rider, and not as a Journeywoman Harper."

My surprise immediately faded away. I nodded. "Of course, sir."

The Masterharper did not begin immediately. Instead, he stepped further inside, looking around the room I'd had since my graduation. Photographs and paintings alike hung on the otherwise barren stone walls, collected as souvenirs from my various jobs. I'd been all over Pern—from Tillek to Nerat. I'd even been to the South on a couple of occasions. Landing was beautiful. I had an entire bulletin board tacked with sketches of what I believed dragons had looked like, from my Harper education and other knowledge I'd learned from my work. I'd also tacked notes from my research on the dragons. Anyone else who saw this would probably call me crazy.

"This expedition is not like any other archaeological digs I have sent you on," Jurian said, turning around to face me. He clasped his hands together behind his back. "Before, you were searching for archaeological evidence to catalog and send to our museum. The task before you now is much greater than that."

I frowned. "Has something happened, sir?"

"I was contacted by Katarina, the Mastercomputerer, in Landing," Jurian answered. "They recently finished developing a technology to seek out technological signals. It originally was meant to see if we could find life beyond Pern, but… they discovered something after scanning our planet."

My eyes widened. "What did they find?"

"There was a ping—a small, but present signal—in the ruins of Fort Weyr." The Masterharper met my gaze. "They ran the program several times to ensure it wasn't a glitch. But it persisted the entire time. It is extremely advanced technology, far more advanced than anything we can produce. But if our forefathers were barely out of a dark age after they defeated Thread, how could they have possibly created such a thing, even with the aid of AIVAS?"

"...You want me to investigate this," I said.

He nodded. "What you find must not reach any other ears besides my own. If this is connected to dragons, Fort, nor any of the other countries, will want the knowledge to leak. They all seem very keen to dismiss the existence of dragons and Thread, despite the confirmation that the Red Star does exist, even if it does not appear in our skies any longer."

"You have my word," I said. "I will see the mission through, as always."

"Good." Jurian smiled for a brief moment, before it faded back to seriousness. "As for the expedition itself—Fort has finally come to a decision on what aid it will provide. They will provide vehicles to get you as close to Fort Weyr as possible, until you and your team will switch to horses and ride the remainder of the way."

"Team?" My eyes widened with excitement. "I actually get a team?!"

The Masterharper sighed. "Don't waste your excitement. As Fort sees this as a waste of time and resources, they had decided to provide you with a 'team' full of troubled youth. This will count towards their sentences of community service."

"_What_?" I narrowed my eyes. "Are you _serious_? They're sending me _delinquents_? They're _never_ going to want to work."

"I imagine that is precisely why Fort made the decision."

"Ugh!" I ran a hand through my bangs. "Great, just… great."

"We are still sending you aid," Jurian said wryly. "The Harper Hall will be sending food and other necessary supplies. Also, the Healer Hall has chosen to send one of their apprentices along for medical assistance, and the Wherhandler Hall has sent a handler to serve as your guard."

I sighed. "Thank you, sir… At least the Craft Halls look after each other."

"That is all," Jurian said, as he turned to go. "Be careful, Arya. Fort may have been the last Weyr to be abandoned, but that doesn't mean it's any less unstable."

He left then, before I could thank him again. The door clicked shut behind him. I let out another sigh, looking at my bedroom before me. I wondered how long it would be before I got to sleep in my own bed again. Well, it didn't really matter. Adventure awaited. I couldn't let the circumstances weigh me down.

Tiara chirped, reaching up to nudge my cheek with her nose. That got me to smile. I reached up to scratch her behind her headknobs.

Everything would be okay. I'd find out where that signal came from, and maybe make some more archaeological discoveries. If I had to do it all myself… so be it.

* * *

I brought my gear down to the courtyard, where a brigade of vehicles awaited. My bags were taken from me to be packed away. I noticed a large trailer hooked up to the back of a truck. The door on the driver's side was open, as was the back of the trailer. A woman stood at the very back of the trailer, tending to something inside. I wondered if that was where the wher was.

I had seen whers before, but never had been allowed to get up close. If this was the wherhandler, I wondered if she'd let me say hi. Well, I should probably introduce myself to those I'd be working with anyway.

"Well, here goes nothing," I said to Tiara.

I walked on over to the trailer. "Excuse me!"

The woman gave one final pat to whatever was inside, before stepping down from the trailer. She was tall and broad-shouldered, built sturdy and muscular. She definitely looked like someone trained to be a bodyguard—like she was tough and no nonsense. She had poofy, cloudlike dark brown hair pulled back in a neat bun, brown skin, and dark brown eyes. A single beauty mark sat at the corner of her plump lips. She wore a black suit with a white blouse, a pair of sunglasses tucked into her blazer pocket. She even wore a shoulder gun holster underneath her blazer.

She raised an eyebrow. "You must be Miss Drake."

"Yes, that would be me! Journeywoman Harper Arya Drake, at your service," I greeted her cheerfully, holding out my hand.

The woman eyed me skeptically, before accepting my hand and giving me a firm shake. "Imani Jernigan, wherhandler of Brown Imansk."

"It's nice to meet you," I said, giving a smile. "Could I perhaps meet Imansk as well? Whers are such beautiful creatures."

Imani snorted. "It's not every day I hear that come out of somebody's mouth. But sure, I guess. He's gonna be helping guard you." She stepped to the side and gestured for me to come closer.

I immediately shuffled over. The trailer was very dim, with the windows covered up with blackout cloth. The only light came through the open door. But all I could see was the heavyset dragonkin standing right in front of me. He wasn't incredibly tall, but he was robust, with shorter legs and a smaller and slightly stunted pair of wings. But his eyes were hidden by a pair of black goggles. Right, whers were normally nocturnal creatures and sunlight hurt their eyes!

"This is Imansk," she said. "Don't let him fool you, he's a big ol' puppy when it comes down to it. But he does take his job very seriously. You couldn't find a finer wher for the job."

"Can he see?" I asked, genuinely curious.

Imani nodded. "Those are night vision goggles. Practically all whers wear 'em these days. Otherwise work for us would be very limited."

Imansk reached out, sniffing at my hand. It was hard to read his expression, due to the goggles hiding his eyes. I couldn't see what color his eyes whirled to know how he was feeling. But he didn't try to bite my hand off, so I think that was a good sign.

The wher snorted, before rumbling, turning his massive frame around, and plodding back to plop down onto the cushions in the back of the trailer.

"He thinks you're all right," Imani said with mild amusement. "Could've had a worse reaction."

"I'll be sure to win him over," I said, now determined to befriend that wher.

Imani stepped forward, so I shifted back, giving her space as she closed up the trailer. "Well, if you'll excuse me, Miss Drake, I have some rounds to make. It was nice meeting you."

"Oh, goodbye-"

And she was gone, leaving to probably get reports from the drivers. I watched her walk away.

"Pretty, but all business," I muttered, looking down at the firelizard lounging on my shoulders. "To be fair, Harpers tend to have a… _reputation_." I made a face. "I'm not like that, am I, Tiara?"

The gold looked at me and blinked.

"Okay, so the last time I went on a date, I had to wheedle information out of an eccentric scientist who did experiments on firelizards." I crossed my arms over my chest. "He was kind of cute, but it was _work_. I don't have time to flirt with every pretty face I see like _some_ Harpers."

I didn't actually hold any of my fellow Harpers with contempt. Sometimes, I just… felt jealous of how simple their jobs were. Thanks to technology, Harpers no longer had to travel all across Pern to spread news. These days, we had telephones and the internet. So a lot of Harpers these days became Harpers simply to perform—to make music.

As a kid, despite being super shy, that had been my dream. I wanted to become a singer. I wanted to write songs and sing and make beautiful music. I wanted a band. I wanted to come home to an entire fair of firelizards. I wanted fame and fortune. But the day the Masterharper scouted me, that option was no longer available. My talents were needed elsewhere.

I didn't regret becoming a spy or delving into the ancient ruins of the dragonriders. It was a life of adventure I never would've gotten as an idol. But sometimes, I just missed having the time to write lyrics and music and practice my singing. I hadn't sung in such a long time.

"ARI!"

I snapped out of my thoughts, turning towards the familiar voice. I immediately spotted her.

I waved. "Kyrie!" She must be the one that the Healer Hall sent.

Kyrie Clark was an Apprentice Healer and the daughter of the Masterhealer. She was only sixteen years old, still without her knots, but she was one of the most hardworking healers I'd ever met.

She was short and chubby, still having quite the baby face. She wore her bright red hair long, tied back in low pigtails, with blunt bangs that reached down towards her light green eyes. She was dressed all ready to go hiking—maybe more so than me—in a forest green parka, a green cardigan, a white turtleneck, jean shorts, gray woolen leggings, and green leg warmers over hiking boots.

It wasn't surprising in the slightest that Kyrie proceeded to bound over and glomp me in a big hug. I couldn't help but laugh a little, before she pulled away and gave a little jump.

"I am _so_ excited to be here!" she exclaimed, holding up her hands and clenching them into fists. "I didn't think Dad would choose me for this mission, but he did, and I'm so excited!" Her eyes widened and she dropped her hands. "Well, I mean, I'm excited to see what Fort Weyr looks like, not to actually, y'know… take care of the injured. I don't want anyone to get hurt!"

"Kyrie, relax," I laughed. "I get _exactly_ what you mean. But even if somebody does get hurt, we've got one of the best healers around."

Since the Healer Hall was part of the Harper Hall, I had also grown up alongside Kyrie. Though she was several years younger than me, I'd always found her endearing. She was like a little sister to me. I may have gotten her out of trouble on more than one occasion.

She had a good heart and pure intentions, but she was so desperate for her father's approval, she… didn't always make the best decisions. With her skill, she should be earning her knots this year, but I imagined her lack of maturity was what held back the Masterhealer from giving them to her. Maybe he hoped this expedition would help.

Kyrie blushed, smiling sheepishly. "Thanks, Ari… I try my best. I just hate seeing people suffering."

I gave her a gentle smile. "I know, Kyrie. We're lucky to have you."

Her smile turned a little brighter, and she nodded. "Have you met the other expedition members yet?"

"Only one of them," I said. "Not… the team Fort gave me."

Kyrie immediately winced. "You won't like this."

"Come on, what's the worst it could be? A bunch of rebellious delinquents?" I jested, but really, if these kids just had community service, they couldn't be _all _that bad. "Let's go meet the team."

Out of all the vehicles here, there was one that stood out in particular. For one, all the other vans were black or white. This one was blue and was emblazoned with Fort's emblem. The doors were open, with a small group of young people standing around. There was four of them—three guys and a girl. That was a lot less than I had expected. I also spotted Imani off to the side, speaking with the driver.

"Hey there!" I called to all of them as we approached. "Welcome to the Fort Weyr Expedition. I'm Arya-"

I immediately cut myself as the only girl in the group turned towards me. Kyrie's words suddenly made sense.

I recognized her immediately, with her long, straight platinum blonde hair brushed over her shoulder, her bangs swept to the left, tucked behind her ear. She had the same light honey brown eyes, the same fair complexion, the same _ugh, why am I here_ expression. The years had been kind to her. We'd always been around the same height, but she was taller now. She'd filled out, in more way than one. It didn't help that the clothing she wore was form fitting—a thin black tank top under an orange flannel shirt, a black aviator jacket, black skinny jeans, and black hiking boots. Honestly, part of the reason I found myself staring was because she was so damn _beautiful_.

It was Elara O'Rinn, my best friend from back when I was a kid.

Her gaze had immediately flickered to us as soon as we started to approach, just like everyone else. She glanced briefly at Kyrie, not really recognizing her, but then her eyes landed on me. It was the faintest change—her eyes widening ever so slightly—that anyone could've missed it. And then it was gone, replaced by narrowed eyes and a scowl.

What was she doing here? The last time I saw her, she was being shipped off to a boarding school to 'fix' her attitude. Apparently it didn't work. Her father, the CEO of O'Rinn Industries, must have used his monetary influence to bail her out of whatever trouble she'd gotten herself into. We had met in school at the Harper Hall. Back then, I had been… _painfully_ shy. I had been super attached to her, like a security blanket. In hindsight, she was a brat and I deserved a better best friend. But she'd been all I had, besides Tiara.

I wasn't prepared for this. I had practically wiped her from my mind. Our friendship hadn't been _awful_, but.. the last few months before she was sent away had been defining. I had never even considered seeing Elara again, even though I should have, with how important her family was.

I was different now. I bet if I didn't have to introduce myself, she wouldn't even recognize me.

"I'm Arya Drake," I began again, managing a smile as I regained my composure, sliding into the poker face I had developed over the years. You needed one in my line of work. "Journeywoman Harper and head of this expedition. "And this is Tiara." I pointed to the firelizard on my shoulders. "I know all of you aren't here of your free will, but… let's all try to have some fun."

Elara rolled her eyes, looking away and crossing her arms.

"Let's begin with introductions," I said, ignoring her and looking down at my only real friend. "Kyrie, you can start."

The redhead's eyes widened, cheeks flushing. "Oh, um… sure." She looked at the others, smiling meekly. "I'm Kyrie Clark, Apprentice Healer! I'm here to make sure everybody is in tip top shape! If you're ever hurt, I'm your gal!"

"Even if you're _just_ an apprentice?" Elara's snide voice cut through the silence that fell. "How can we trust someone who is still in _training_?"

It took every ounce of self control not to jump to Kyrie's defense and rip Elara's head off. Instead, I looked her dead in the eye. "Why don't you go next, then, _Elara_?"

She held my gaze for a moment, before looking away, scowling off to the side. "...Whatever. Elara O'Rinn, heiress of O'Rinn Industries, since we're _apparently_ announcing our occupations for all to know."

Shards. She really hadn't changed one bit.

I looked over to who was standing to her left, keeping a bit of a distance—a young man who appeared to be around my age, so early twenties.

He was tall and kind of scrawny, having awkwardly skinny proportions that would probably not look so awkward if he'd filled out some more. But it was an obvious sign of poverty—whoever he was, his kind of skinny wasn't normal. He had wavy dark brown hair with bangs that fell into his warm brown eyes, parted to the side. He was somewhat pale, even with his olive complexion. He wore a heavy white turtleneck sweater, blue jeans, and hiking boots. He was pretty handsome, despite the awkwardness.

He must have realized I was waiting on him, because his eyes widened and his cheeks darkened. "I… I'm Luka Vasilyev."

There was another boy standing off next to him. The striking resemblance between the two of them made me wonder if they were brothers.

This other boy was much younger; he couldn't have been older than sixteen. He was several inches shorter than his brother and though he was heavier set, he was just as skinny. He wore his straight dark brown hair short and neat, his bangs parted and swept to the side. He had the same olive complexion as his brother, but his eyes were bright blue. He wore a blue and white hoodie, jeans, and sneakers—not nearly as prepared as his brother.

"... Alexei Vasilyev," he muttered, looking away.

Jeez. Talk about friendly.

I moved onto the last person here—another guy, around my age.

He was slightly shorter than Luka, but of a similar build—lithely athletic with lean muscle. He had shaggy, pin straight black hair, his bangs slightly swept away from his amber eyes. He wasn't particularly tan, nor was he pale. He wore a dark brown leather jacket, a black tank top, skinny jeans, and heavily worn brown combat boots. A blunt hung out of his mouth, half smoldering.

Great. A smoker. He was handsome, in the rugged sort of way, but the cigarette was a major turn off. So _disgusting_.

But he must have caught me sizing him up and naturally interpreted it the wrong way. A cocky, lopsided smile quirked on his lips. I fought the urge to roll my eyes.

"Ezekiel Ritter, at your service," he drawled, holding out his hand. "My friends call me Zeke."

Ritter, huh? I recognized that name. Surnames had only been readopted about two hundred years ago, but they were all connected to occupations. Last names like _Drake_ and _Ritter_ signified that someone was descended from dragonriders.

For myself, I had no idea if it was true; I'd always assumed it was because of how, as a child, I was fascinated by the stories of dragons and their riders. But Ritter? They were a rich family who claimed descent from the leaders of Benden Weyr who ended Thread. They had money, and money meant power. It was just a little ironic that their son was here, having to do community service.

I eyed his hand almost skeptically, before accepting the handshake. "A pleasure, Ezekiel."

Now that all introductions had been made, I stepped back, giving my crew some more space. Ezekiel seemed a little flabbergasted, but it was probably good for him. I looked over them all one last time. Kyrie, with her hopeful excitement. Elara, grumpily brooding. Luka, nervously shifting. Aleksei, quietly unhappy. And Ezekiel, roguishly baffled. These people were who I had to work with for at least the next month.

"Well," I began, "I look forward to working with each and every one of you. Here's to making new discoveries!"

I could only hope that me being given a crew full of delinquents—however out of place some of them might seem—would not backfire on me.

* * *

**Hello everyone, and thank you for reading! This is a post-canon DRoP fanfic featuring a modern Pern without dragons. This story is connected to my other DroP fanfic, Dragon's Treason, which I've lost inspiration for. But I wanted to continue with the second half of that story, so here it is, with a few adjustments.**

**Pern has undergone industrialization and technological advancements over the past 500 years, thanks to the knowledge AIVAS shared and the fact that they no longer had to spend so many resources on fighting Thread. A lot more will be explained as the story goes on.**

**Anyway, I hope you enjoy Dragonrise! I also would love to hear your thoughts!**


	2. The Next Generation

**DRAGONRISE**

* * *

**CHAPTER 2: THE NEXT GENERATION**

* * *

_3.23.507 After Thread._

* * *

We drove for several hours that first day, until we reached the end of the road. Then we had to unload our gear, pack everything onto horses, and abandon the vehicles to ride the rest of the way on horseback. Unsurprisingly, not everyone too keen about riding horses the rest of the way there.

Fort Weyr was nestled in the mountains, in a volcanic crater. Our horses were more like mountain ponies, suited for the rocky climb. Everyone mostly kept to themselves. Kyrie stuck around me. Luka and Alexei stayed together. Imani and Imansk were everywhere, doing their job. Elara and Ezekiel were the loners. But I didn't care, as long as they stayed out of trouble.

But after two days of riding through treacherous paths, we reached our destination. The road that led into Weyr actually led into a network of natural caverns that would then lead out into the Weyr Bowl—according to historical texts. As we ventured into the tunnel, I grabbed my flashlight and turned it on. The others did the same, before we could be enveloped in darkness. Tiara shifted on my shoulders, actually sitting attentively.

"Um, Ari?" I looked over to see that Kyrie had ridden up to me. "Is this where we're supposed to go?"

I nodded. "This tunnel will take us into the Weyr. I've read that the Fort Road connected the Weyr to the Hold, and that there will be caverns further in, that were used for travelers and traders. There's no other way in—unless you can fly, anyway."

Just like I predicted, the tunnel opened up into a small cavern. I stopped my horse and gestured for everyone to do the same.

"Check for torches," I said, beginning to dismount. "There has to be a light source in here."

Everyone dispersed to begin searching. I could imagine Elara rolling her eyes, but it was too dark for me to see for myself. I shone my flashlight in the direction I figured the wall was, until I found what I was looking for. I had matches on me, but it didn't matter, because Tiara decided to actually jump off my shoulder and fly over to the torch. She breathed fire on the torch, lighting it. Well, guess it was a good thing I gave her firestone this morning.

I watched as Tiara flew around the cavern, lighting the torches with her fire. She then flew on ahead, disappearing into the next cavern. I took that as my cue to get back on my horse and ride after her. The others did the same.

This cavern was much larger. As Tiara flew, lighting the torches, I saw an entrance, to what must have been another cavern, was caved in by rocks. The stone walls were smooth, any rough edges knocked off by stonecutters by the Ancients. But in the distance, I saw sunlight coming through an opening. As the others lingered, looking around in awe, I rode on ahead towards that light. Tiara returned to perch on my shoulder.

I rode out into the open—into what I believed was the Weyr Bowl. The caldera's walls rose above us, made of dark, volcanic rock. Even at this distance, I could make out the entrances of the personal weyrs carved out of the caldera on the opposite side, sitting behind natural small cliffs. Below those weyrs were entrances to other caverns. There was also the Hatching Sands to my right, with the upper deck where spectators would watch the hatchings quite visible.

I slowed my horse to a stop. This wasn't the first time I'd visited the ruins of a Weyr. But Fort Weyr was by far the most extravagant Weyr I had ever seen. It was barely ruined. Even after all these years, it stood proudly, a testament to the Ancients' stonecutters and other technology that allowed them to carve their home out of nothing.

"This is amazing," I breathed. "Just imagine this place, with _dragons_…"

The sound of hoof beats drew my attention away from my new discovery. My crew had finally decided to join me. I turned in my saddle to look back at them.

"Welcome to Fort Weyr," I said. "Let's set up camp."

* * *

"This place is amazing," I said, pacing back and forth in my newly set up tent. "I haven't even scratched the surface, but just looking at the outside, I can see proof of the technological advancement of the Ancients. We as a people have come so far since Thread, but I don't think I can even say that we could transform a caldera into a home for genetically engineered winged creatures."

Imani watched me walk back and forth, arms crossed over her chest. "Yeah, well. Discovering anything will have to wait until you decide what to do with your 'crew'."

...Right. I stopped and sighed. "I could probably get more work done _without_ them."

"Maybe that was the point."

"I don't understand what Fort has against unveiling history," I said, pressing a hand to my temple. Never mind the secret job that the Masterharper had given me. "But you're right. Let's see how they're doing."

We stepped out of the tent. We had chosen to set up camp next to the lake on the far end of the Weyr Bowl, for easy access to water. A total of six tents had been put up—one for me, one for Imani, one for Kyrie, one for Elara, one for Luka and Alexei, and one for Ezekiel. My tent and Imani's were the largest. I had the most supplies, and Imani had to house a wher. Just as we stepped out, so did Elara. And as soon as she spotted us, she walked on over.

I braced myself. My former best friend's pleasantness had carried on for the past three days.

Unsurprisingly, she ignored my bodyguard to go straight to me. "Arya, do you have a moment?"

I forced a smile. "For you, Elara? Always."

She scowled, crossing her arms over her chest. "Just _how_ do you expect us to live like _this_ for _who knows how long_? In tents, with cots as hard as rocks, no running water?"

I gave her a flat look. "Have you never been camping, Elara?"

"No, I haven't," she retorted. "Nor did I ever care to."

"Maybe you should have considered that before you broke the law," Imani said dryly, before turning to go. "I'll take my leave. If you need me, Miss Drake, you know where to find me."

I took my eyes off Elara for a moment, watching her walk away. She returned to Imansk, who was lounging outside of their tent, gnawing on some bone he found earlier this morning. But now that Imani was gone… I could voice my true opinion to Elara.

"Just _what_ is your problem, Elara?" I demanded, immediately letting my temper go. "Ever since this journey started, you've been griping and whining. You even called Tiara _fat_ and that was _so_ uncalled for."

Elara rolled her eyes. "That's because she _is_ fat. She wasn't like that last time I saw her."

"The last time you—ugh!" I ran a hand through my bangs. "That's _besides_ the point. What in Faranth's name did you do to even get yourself here?"

The aggravated expression immediately faded, and she looked away. "...Why do you even care?"

"I care because-" I cut myself off. _I care because you're my friend._ I couldn't even say that anymore. "I care because you're acting like you've got a stick shoved up your ass and you're taking it out on everyone."

Elara gave me a withering look. "Haven't I always 'had a stick shoved up my ass'? You used to call me a stick-in-the-mud when we were kids."

My eyes widened. "...You remember that?"

She sighed. "Of _course_ I remember. I'm not a complete asshole." She looked around the Weyr, at the walls and the weyrs and the lake. "This just… isn't me." She waved around at everything. "This was always _you_. Camping, going on adventures, dreaming of fairy tales. I just remember you being a little more shy and scared about it."

She wasn't wrong… But I was different back then. Back then, I'd been alone and afraid. Stories were all I had… besides her. But Elara hadn't always been around. She had her own life, in the city, with parents and riches and everything she could ask for. All I had was a firelizard and a necklace that belonged to my mother, whoever she was.

"Well, I'm not that girl anymore," I said. "I haven't been for years now."

"I can see that." It was strange seeing Elara suddenly not angry or bitter. It was almost like part of her had _softened_. "You're _definitely_ a Harper."

I rolled my eyes. "So, are you going to answer my question about how you got here?"

Elara's expression immediately soured. "No."

Before I could even protest, she was gone. Shards… She was definitely trying to hide something. But what? I would have to wiggle it out of her somehow. With a sigh, I returned to my tent. There was still some planning and organization to do before anyone could start exploring.

* * *

_3.24.507 After Thread._

* * *

It took an entire day to get everything situated. But that meant I now had time to do what I did best—search for knowledge. I also decided to pick one of my 'assistants' to accompany into the ruins. It would be a lot more fun for everyone that way. Or at least it would be, in my mind. But for today, I picked Luka. He seemed the most out of sorts here—the one who didn't belong, more so than even his brother.

"Um, if you don't mind me asking… where exactly are we going?"

During breakfast, I had told Luka to get his things together to be out for the day and then meet me at the edge of our campsite. I also told Imani to stay at the camp with Imansk, just in case. I didn't want there to be trouble while I was gone. I trusted Kyrie, but the others? Not so much. So, with my gear stored away in my backpack, my gun holstered to my hip, and my firelizard on my shoulder, I had met up with Luka, who looked anxious as ever.

"We're going to the Weyrleaders' complex," I said, handing him a flashlight. "The Weyrleader and Senior Weyrwoman weren't always romantically involved, but the dragonrider culture called for them to at least _appear_ to be. Because of this, they lived together in interconnected weyrs that can be found in most of the Weyrs throughout Pern."

I started off, heading in the direction of our destination, according to the map of Fort Weyr I'd been given from the Harper Hall's archives. "I guess in the dragonriders' minds, if their leaders' dragons were a mated pair, the riders should be too," I continued on, as he hastily followed after me. "It's weird to think about. What if the riders' sexualities weren't compatible? Then again, all goldriders and bronzeriders were believed to be heterosexual, so that wouldn't be a problem."

"Uh… right." Luka's cheeks darkened. "That's… interesting."

...I supposed speaking of sexuality so freely wasn't a common subject, even among this modern age. I scaled up the stone steps that led to the complex of caves that would've belonged to the Weyrleaders. There were two separate weyrs, connected by a small cavern where the Weyrleader and Senior Weyrwoman would sleep. The senior queen's weyr sat to the right, closer to the Hatching Sands.

I glanced back at Luka, as he followed after me. Most of my suspicions of his and his brother's lifestyle had been proven true over the past few days. All of their clothes were worn from use. They ate the most food out of all of us, practically licking their plates clean. I hated to say it, but this was probably the most they'd been able to eat in a long time. But what I didn't get was how they both ended up serving community service—and such _bizarre_ community service as this. Being assigned to an expedition wasn't exactly _normal_.

"If you don't mind me asking," I began, after I had waited for him to catch up and continued on, "why exactly are you on this expedition? You and your brother don't exactly come off as _delinquents_ to me."

Luka immediately winced. "My brother was caught… stealing food. Since it was just food, he got off with just community service. But when he was assigned this, I… got worried. He's just a minor, and this expedition would take him out of school for who knows how long… I didn't want to leave him on his own, so I volunteered to join the expedition with him."

I fought the urge to scowl. Being punished for trying to survive, huh… That just confirmed that they were poor. And that was such a Fort thing to do. How despicable.

"Alexei is lucky to have a brother as caring as you," I said quietly.

"Ha…" Luka all but grimaced. "If only he'd say something like that."

Ouch… I guess their relationship wasn't as strong as I had thought. Or maybe they had just hit a rough patch? I'd like to consider myself good at reading people. Luka was easy enough to figure out, but Alexei was just so… indifferent. Something had to have made him that way, but… it was none of my business. Some secrets weren't meant for a Harper's ears.

"Family can be hard," I said, in an attempt to be reassuring. "Not that I really have any expertise in that department… I have no family ties—much like the dragonriders of old. They didn't believe in familial bonds." Shifting the subject back to dragonriders would hopefully relieve Luka of any awkwardness. I looked on ahead, to where the senior queen's weyr awaited. "They supposedly didn't have enough time to care for both their dragons and their children. So the children were raised in the Creche, which was basically daycare, and by surrogates. Some riders didn't even acknowledge their children. Supposedly, it was to prevent debilitating loss upon the death of a dragonrider in the fight against Thread. But I'm not sure if I could get behind a life like that."

Luka also looked up at the gaping weyr entrance. "That almost sounds… cold. Having children, just to cast them aside like they're nothing…"

I gave a slight shrug. "They had their reasons. We don't have to agree with them. After all, we, the holders, survived, and they did not."

It was strange to think about it like that… but it was true.

"Let's go inside," I said. "History awaits!"

Not waiting for his answer, I headed into the weyr, switching on my flashlight. Tiara perked up, shifting herself on my shoulders so she wasn't flopped out so lazily. And for the first time in hundreds of years, light shone on the inside of this weyr.

The walls were smooth, clean cut thanks to the stonecutters of the Ancients. Every sharp corner had been worn away, as was commonplace throughout the entire Weyr. This weyr, however, was huge—much larger than I had ever seen before, and I'd been in High Reaches, Telgar, and Honshu. I stepped further inside, shining my flashlight around. I heard Luka follow after me.

"Amazing," I breathed. "There are even tapestries left behind."

Indeed, upon initial inspection, I found tapestries hanging on the walls—most likely to keep out the cold. I approached the nearest one; it was clearly of Benden make, but faded and rotten after five centuries of neglect. I wrinkled my nose at the stench. I left the tapestry to look around more. A large stone couch sat next to the far right wall, with a rotten mattress and remains of straw and rushes to cushion it. The mattress had even been covered with a fancy padded quilt, which had obviously seen better days.

I continued to wander around for my initial inspection, leaving Luka to his awestruck fascination. To the left was the middle cavern that connected the two weyrs, where the Weyrleader and Weyrwoman stayed. Finding some cobweb dusted torches, I took the moment to pull out my lighter and light them, illuminating the chamber. Tiara left my shoulders then, flying off to look at something that had caught her eye. I turned off my flashlight and approached the living area.

There was a large bed, fitted with blankets and quilts just as magnificent as the queen's couch. A couple of bookshelves were pushed up against the walls, along with a wardrobe, all made of rotting wood. I found a service shaft and ventilation ducts. I also found a doorway, once covered by a curtain of some sort, that led to a bathroom chamber with a _hot spring_ for a bath. Well, I knew where we'd all be taking baths from now on.

For such a medieval arrangement, the senior queenrider had it made. The Weyrwoman in charge was essentially treated like a queen—and rightfully so, I supposed. Did that make the Weyrleader the king, then? I did read a few documents that described bronzes as the kings of the dragons. But the queens were who held the true power.

Tiara chirped loudly, drawing my attention away from my thoughts. I left the lavatory chamber, stepping back into the bedroom. I spied the gold sitting on a square table that I'd assumed served as a writing desk and dining table and so on. She nudged something white towards me—a sheet of paper? I immediately walked over, flicking my flashlight back on for some extra light. Indeed, there was a folded piece of stationary, yellowed and worn, but still solid. Beside it were the remains of a quill and a dried up inkwell. I carefully picked up the folded paper, and delicately opened it up, shining my flashlight on it.

This was a letter. Or a note? Regardless, there was writing on it.

* * *

_To whoever may find this:_

_Asha was right. Her theory on what was happening to the dragons was right. I should have listened to T'kan, but R'mel has been so rigidly stuck in the old ways. I didn't exactly want to join in on the war against the traitors, not when keeping the dragons alive has been so difficult. It has been years since Zaniath last rose to mate, and I believe she will never rise again. Without Thread, our dragons' cycles have been disrupted. Asha suspected this, but no one wanted to believe her. Only her Kalianth seems immune to the inevitable. And Lorelei's Vanth, but we want nothing to do with them. _

_No one else knows about this—about our plan. We worked with the Southerners and their advanced technology to make this work. No matter how hard we try, the dragons as they are now will die out. Whether from lack of fertility or fighting amongst ourselves, the dragonsriders will cease to be. We have to change. Our dragons have to change. _

_We tried to change our culture, but that only resulted in war. The only other problems that remain are genetic. Our dragons have grown far too large to sustain, which has led to conflict with the Holds—never mind that they, along with our ancestors, have hidden the flourishing South from us. Our dragons have mutated from generations of inbreeding, and it has taken its toll. The only good thing that has come of this is perhaps the increased intelligence and self-awareness of dragons. _

_We have to start over. That's the only way to save the dragons. _

_Our plan was simple. We took the DNA of the largest and healthiest dragons—Kalianth, Romanoth, Behemeth, and Quiyeth—and used them as examples to engineer firelizards' DNA to mentasyth a new generation of dragons. The scientists at Landing also used their DNA to supplement the experiment. They did their best to copy how the Ancients bioengineered the original dragons. It took several tries, but they managed to create a viable clutch of eggs—gold, bronze, brown, blue, and green. They did not recreate the new mutations that came from all the inbreeding. As wonderful as Ciarth and the other adamant dragons are, upsetting the balance just made things worse. _

_Unfortunately, Lorelei and O'man discovered this. We're all worried that they will try to destroy these eggs. And even if they successfully hatch and find their bondmates, these new dragons will be small. They are genetically engineered to not surpass the size of the first dragons. They will not grow larger than draft horses—which will be much more manageable and useful for future generations. These dragons and their offspring will be able to go more places and be useful in more ways, with less mass to carry around and find room for. And these dragons will be no match for their predecessors. Kalianth alone is larger than Ramoth herself. _

_Asha has decided we have no choice but to bring this clutch ahead to the future. We've tried to dissuade her, but… she's more stubborn than her brother. She plans on taking Kalianth between, into the future by several centuries. As Benden is not safe, I volunteered Fort for where she should place the clutch's cryogenic container. Fort will not fall to the war. Our walls are too strong, and our dragons are fierce. We will protect the Weyr for the future. As Weyrwoman, I will see to it myself. _

_Asha is certain she and her gold will not return. She plans on going far into the future—farther than Lessa and Ramoth went back in time. It's a suicide mission. And she plans on bringing her twins with her… to leave in the future, to bond with two of the new dragons. I know she plans this so her children will not be subjected to this horrible war, and as a mother myself, I cannot blame her… But I can only hope that that going between will not harm them. J'lan highly objected to this plan… but he couldn't argue against her. My heart aches for him. He's lost so much in this war, and will only lose more. But I think he, of all people, can understand the meaning of sacrifice. _

_I do not know if this plan will be successful. But if it is, you will find the cryogenic container holding the eggs in the deepest caverns of this Weyr. We cleared out the chambers trapped by the rockfall for this specific reason. If Asha and Kalianth succeeded, you will find the eggs there. _

_I have no idea what the future holds. I have no idea what the world is like when you are now. But I hope you have an empathetic heart, full of the desire to protect Pern. We may no longer have Thread to fight, but our planet still needs defenders—even from itself. _

_My name is Altea, rider of Gold Zaniath, Senior Weyrwoman of Fort Weyr, and I am one of the last dragonriders of Pern. It has been an honor to fly through these skies, but our era has come to a end. Don't forget about us as you fly in our wingstrokes._

* * *

I stared at the letter. Tiara chirped again, leaping up onto my shoulder, but I didn't flinch. I didn't even blink. I could hardly breathe.

The signal the Computerer Hall reported… If this was all true, it had to come from the cryogenic pod that contained these dragon eggs.

This… This was the greatest discovery of all time. Not only did it shed light on what happened to the dragonriders of old—and revealed a war, no less—but potential _dragon eggs_? Was this even real? It sounded more like something I'd read in a novel.

"Luka!" I whirled around, letter still in hand. I caught him looking at a faded tapestry hanging on one of the walls. He nearly jumped out of his skin. "I've made a _huge_ discovery! We have to tell the others!"

His eyes widened. "Wait, what?"

"There could be _dragon eggs_ here," I said, carefully folding the letter back up. "Bonafide dragon eggs, Luka! There haven't been dragons on Pern in centuries! We could very well see the rise of a new generation of dragonriders. Fort and all the other countries may not like it, but… who cares? Pern's very own history could be coming alive!"

I didn't wait for him to respond. I rushed out of the Weyrleaders' complex, grabbing him by the wrist and pulling him after me.

* * *

_3.27.507 After Thread._

* * *

It took us three days. Three days of digging and following the map. Imansk was a major help. He actually did most of the digging and navigating. The wher seemed to sense _something_, but what exactly, none of us knew. Imani didn't even know. But we kept on going. I, at least, was determined to find out whether this suicide mission had been successful or not. I read the letter again a few times, trying to glean anything else from it. But each time, I never noticed something new. There was no hidden meaning or secret message. The writer of the letter, Weyrwoman Altea, was brutally honest.

I sent a missive to the Masterharper to tell him of the turn of events. He told me we needed to keep this quiet. If the eggs were nowhere to be found, or if they all died upon hatching, it would be better for no one to have known. If the eggs were found and hatched and bonded with some of us… we'd deal with it when the time came. To protect Fort Weyr and the other ruins, we had to keep this to ourselves.

I was okay with that. It's not like I had anyone to blab to out here anyway. We were miles away from civilization.

But today, with the help of Imansk, we had cleared out the last of the rubble. When Imani gave the okay, I headed into the tunnel. Today's helper was Ezekiel, so he begrudgingly followed after me. Dust and debris was still settling, clouding the stagnant air. I couldn't help but cough, waving my hand around to get the air moving as I ventured down with my flashlight.

"You _really_ think we're going to find a _five hundred year old_ cryogenic pod down here?" Ezekiel asked skeptically as he caught up to me.

"I have no idea," I said, as we rounded a corner. "I want to believe we will, but who knows?"

Tiara remained on my shoulder, as per usual. Ezekiel also had a flashlight, shining around as he took in our surroundings. This area obviously hadn't been touched since the rockfall, which made me wonder how the queenrider who supposedly went back in time even got back here. Everything was covered in dust and cobwebs. The air was stale and reeked of must. I found myself coughing frequently.

It was too dark to really make out anything. But for once, history wasn't what I was looking for.

* * *

_3.30.507 After Thread._

* * *

It took us three more days to make our way through the corridors. These caverns were filled with ancient plasfilm, buried under dirt and other debris along the walls. I worked on drawing a map of the area and marking where such relics were found, to be retrieved later. It was a tedious task, but it needed to be done.

I had picked Elara for today, having cycled through everyone else through the week. She wandered on ahead without me as I cataloged some more plasfilm.

"This is so fascinating, Tiara," I said, as I finished marking off my map. "All of this was left behind after the rockfall. Imagine what lost historical records of the Ancients we'll find once we're able to read these."

Tiara chirped tiredly, curling back around my neck. I laughed, reaching up to give her a scratch. For her, being out all day was exhausting. My lazy little firelizard.

"Uh, Arya?" I heard Elara call. "You kinda want to see this."

Frowning, I tucked away my map and headed down the corridor to where her voice had come from. Tiara shifted, perking up a little now that we were moving. The tunnel went along for a few more yards, until it opened into a large cavern. I stepped inside, my eyes widening as I took in the sight before me.

A large, circular cryogenic container was most definitely there—but what immediately caught my attention was the ginormous dragon skeleton laying next to it.

"Shards," I breathed, eyes wide. "It's bigger than an airplane."

"How did that thing even _get_ in here?" Elara asked, as she came to stand beside me.

"Teleportation," I said. "Dragons could teleport just like firelizards. Dragonriders called it going _between_. Apparently, dragons could even use going _between_ to traverse time. I have no idea how that even works, though."

I didn't wait for her to respond. I approached the dragon's remains first. The bones were massive, the tips of the wings nearly reaching the naturally domed ceiling. Upon closer inspection, I found some leather straps, worn and rotten, hanging from its shoulders—perhaps some of riding harness. The skeleton curled around the pod, like it was trying to protect it. I walked around, trying to see if there was anything else I could find… only to almost step on _another_ skeleton.

Tiara squeaked, nearly falling off my shoulders as I hastily stepped back. Then she blinked _between_, and then appeared right next to the newly discovered skeleton. This one belonged to a human… leaning against the massive femur of the dragon. I was no scientist, so I had no idea if this person had been a man or woman. Their clothes had rotted away to rags, so that was no help either. I crouched down to get a closer look.

"Interesting…" I muttered to no one in particular, except my firelizard. "It looks like they were holding something… Their arms are in a cradling position. Maybe that letter was right… about the queenrider bringing her children." I looked over at Tiara, who had sat down. Her eyes whirled lavender-gray, which was… _odd_ for someone she never knew. "I wondered what happened to them…"

There were no identifying marks on the skeleton… no pieces of jewelry or anything. We'd have to remove her remains to be cremated or buried somewhere. As for the dragon… the Masterharper has been wanting to open a dragonrider museum for a while now. Having the skeleton of an actual dragon would seriously help that.

But for now, we needed to get those eggs on the Hatching Sands to see if they were still alive.

* * *

Today was conveniently very warm for the third month of the year. By the time Imansk heaved the circular pod out to the Hatching Sands, it was noon. The sun was high in the sky, warming the sands that once incubated generations of dragons. Everyone had come running as soon as I sent Tiara out to deliver the news. But I told them to stay back until we were sure everything was all right with the eggs.

After all, they'd been frozen in time for four or five centuries.

Imansk hauled the pod to the center of the Hatching Hands. Imani unhooked him, letting the wher go free. He immediately plodded to stand behind her, eyeing the container with a mix of suspicion and curiosity, according to the whirling of orange and green in his eyes. Imani stayed to the side, crossing her arms, but watching me carefully as I proceeded.

"This looks like the Ancients' tech," I said, both to myself and everyone else who was here. "They must have taken it straight from Landing and AIVAS. Even we haven't been able to replicate this."

"We get it, it's amazing," Elara drawled, and I could just imagine her rolling her eyes. "You're a dragon nerd, we know."

I glanced back at her and the others. They all stood together, a little further off from where Imani and her wher were. They were an odd little group—all of us were. And if we were about to become the first dragonriders in centuries, we would probably be the strangest ones of them all. In a way, we'd be like the very first…

I wondered if the Ancients would be proud of Pern's progress.

But that didn't matter right now. Right now, these eggs needed to be freed.

Tiara chirped, giving me a reassuring nudge on the cheek. Steeling myself, I turned back towards the cryogenic pod. Having read about them in the archives at the Harper Hall, I knew that to open it, all I had to do was press the blue button. So I did.

_Click_. Clouds of frosty air came flowing out as the lid of the cryogenic pod unlocked itself and lifted up. The lid folded back, revealing its contents. My eyes widened and I gasped. There were _so many eggs_.

Twenty eggs were packed into that cryogenic pod. All of them were about the same size and color—indistinguishable, much like firelizard eggs. The only exceptions were the four large golden eggs that had to be, without a doubt, queen eggs. Each of them were a different shade of gold—one was a rich shade, almost metallic, another was a deep orange-gold, another was a pale rose-gold, and the last one was a pastel yellow.

Four queen eggs… Three girls… Best case scenario, only one of the baby dragons would die. That was sad enough.

"Let's get these on the Sands," I said, turning towards everyone. "They need to be nice and warm if we're to save them!"

For once, no one argued. They simply complied. The eggs weren't very big—perhaps just a little larger than a cat—which made transporting them onto the sand very easy. Everyone moved slowly and carefully, carrying the eggs with a delicacy I didn't know some of them were capable of. Like Ezekiel. He was just full of surprises.

I personally inspected each and every one before they were moved. I discovered a couple of them were cracked, the shells broken prematurely and the dragons frozen inside. A few eggs had freezer burn and smelled of decay. But we got all of the ones that seemed healthy situated on the Hatching Sands—ten to be exact. Unfortunately, the bright gold egg was one of the freezer burned ones.

I was all set to leave them there to warm, when all of a sudden, Tiara chirped excitedly. Even Imansk, who had been dozing off, snapped to attention.

"What is it, Tiara?" I asked, mildly confused.

She projected an image to my mind—of an egg hatching and a little dragon crawling out. My eyes widened.

"They're hatching already?!"

A loud _crack_ caught my attention. I immediately looked towards the source of the sound. The orange-gold egg gave another violent shake, a crack splitting right down the middle. I watched in shock and awe as the egg broke in half, revealing a tiny queen just as colorful as her egg.

The little dragon could've been no larger than Tiara herself; in fact, the firelizard was slightly bigger. She was a deep orange-gold color, rich and vibrant—a stark contrast to the stone and sand of the Weyr. A dark burnt orange color covered her face like a mask, reminding me of a horse's bald face. That same color trailed along the back of her neck and spine, with streaks flaming out down the sides, very much like fire. The back of her wings were also burnt orange, as were her legs, also sporting the flame markings. She staggered, almost losing her balance, bits of shell still clinging to her damp hide.

"Jays," I breathed. "She's stunning. I never imagined dragons would be so _colorful_."

With all my research, I'd always pictured them as single colors, even though my own firelizard had unique markings.

The tiny queen regained her balance. Her eyes whirled red-orange as she looked around, at each of us. And then she moved, stalking forward. She almost tripped over her ungainly legs. She paused, took one look at me, and continued on. Completely ignoring anyone else, she walked straight up to Elara.

The hatchling headbutted Elara in the leg. Elara's eyes widened, her jaw dropping, as the baby dragon's eyes began to whirl rainbows. Elara looked at the tiny dragon at her feet, then at me, and the back at the dragon again.

"...Her name's Jezrieth."

Success! The first dragon of 507 was named Jezrieth. I'd have to write this down later, along with any other dragons that hatched. This was _so_ exciting.

Elara crouched down to pick up her new dragon, scooping her up into her arms. I heard more cracking sounds, so I returned my attention to the eggs. It took a couple more minutes, but three more dragons hatched out of the eggs—two blues and a green. These babies were even tinier, almost dwarfed by their golden sister. They began to wander around with a panicked urgency. They were both vivid shades of their respective colors.

While the green remained panicked, the blue made his way over to Alexei. He was a bright little thing, with lighter sky blue hued on his face and upper neck, along with lower ends of the undersides of his wings. He reminded me of the transition from night to day… albeit without the warmer shades of dawn.

Alexei's eyes widened at the dragon's approach, but as the blue got closer, he crouched down, reaching out his hand—a soft, tender gesture. The little dragon sniffed at his hand, before pressing his entire face into Alexei's palm, eyes whirling rainbows.

Alexei's eyes remained wide. "Zeruth…"

Yes, another-

A horrible screech tore me away from my silent celebration. Just in time to see the little green dragon disappear _between_. She didn't come back.

...So… that was true, too, then…

If a dragon didn't find its partner, it threw itself _between_ and died… I read that it was so there would be no wild dragons, but… that was horrible.

I glanced around. Everyone looked stunned.

This was going to take a while.

* * *

I asked Imani to take Elara, Alexei, and their new dragons away from the Hatching Sands. The hatchlings needed food, and anywhere was better than here. With each new hatching, another death followed. For an hour, we waited, listening to those horrible, anguished screeches. I had Tiara retrieve a blanket, notepad, and pen from my tent so I could sit down without getting sand everywhere and record the happenings.

So far, only two eggs hatched and bonded successfully—a gold and a blue. And three had hatched and died—a green, a blue, and a brown. That was half of the total eggs we'd been able to save. Only five more remained. And there were only four of us left.

Kyrie came to sit with me. We ended up playing Hangman on my notepad to pass the time. Tiara continued to hum. Three deaths during the first hour. No hatchings at all during the second. I was beginning to wonder if any other eggs would hatch. I knew a lot about dragons, but my research never went into detail on hatchings.

There _was_ someone who'd know, though. That eccentric scientist I had to get information out of a couple years back. As… quirky as he was, he would be an important ally in whatever chaos would follow after this.

Kyrie glanced up from our current game of Hangman. Her eyes widened and she reached over to tap me on the arm.

"Ari, look! Another queen is hatching!"

I immediately looked up. The pastel yellow egg had begun to stir. Kyrie scrambled to her feet, so I set down my notepad and stood up as well.

It took a few minutes for the shell to fracture, but finally a tiny head butted out, covered in goopy eggshell. We watched as the dragon clawed its way out of the egg, stumbling onto the sands. This dragon was almost the exact same shade as her egg—pale yellow in soft pastel hues. Even with her gangly baby body, it was easy to tell she was built more delicately than Jezrieth. She looked around, eyes whirling yellow.

She seemed to notice Kyrie and me. She stared at us for a moment. And then, without a sound, she blinked _between_.

"No!" Kyrie gasped, tears welling up in her eyes. "Not _another_ one…"

I sat back down. I picked up my notepad and pen and recorded the the loss. "Four more. And then it's over."

Kyrie plopped back down beside me and buried her face in her hands. "This is horrible… I hate it… How could people do this, over and over again? Watching the baby dragons _kill_ themselves…"

I sighed. "I don't know, Kyrie."

We didn't return to our game of Hangman. Kyrie was too busy trying to hold herself together and not cry. Tiara's humming had finally tapered off and she'd curled up on my shoulders, around my neck. Her presence was warm and comforting.

This time, only five more minutes passed before another egg began to sway.

It was the tiniest egg. It began to rock violently, back and forth and back and forth. We all looked up, caught off guard by the abrupt activity. Squeaks could be heard from the egg. And then suddenly, two legs broke through the shell and the dragon caught itself before it could send itself and its egg tumbling.

Two tiny pale green legs.

The dragon, still encased in its egg, tried to move. It took two steps in our direction, dragging its egg along with it. Kyrie hopped back onto her feet.

"It needs help!"

After all these deaths, I wasn't about to stop her. Traditionally, dragons weren't aided when hatching from eggs… because the eggshell was genetically engineered to prevent unhealthy dragons from hatching. But this little girl was trying hard enough. I think she deserved a chance. Besides, most dragonrider traditions were bizarre enough as it is.

Kyrie rushed over to the egg. She pulled out a pocket knife and began to try to cut through the shell. I watched in anticipation, beginning to feel some hope that maybe we'd finally get another dragon. We needed a bronze or brown more than anything, but I would be happy with just about _any_ color surviving.

Kyrie managed to break through the eggshell with her pocket knife. She carefully wedged open the crack, which apparently was enough for the baby dragon to free her head. The egg completely split open. Kyrie pulled the new hatchling out, scooping her up into her arms. The little dragon chirped happily, her hide covered with mucus and shell shards. She reached up to nudge Kyrie on the cheek.

She was by far the tiniest dragon we'd seen today—even compared to the other green that had hatched. She was a pale shade of green—almost like pastel tea green. Lighter, almost whitish spots speckled her lowered body and the lower undersides of her wings. She was a beautiful little thing.

Her eyes whirled rainbows.

"Tanith," Kyrie breathed. She looked up over at me with wide, excited eyes. "Her name's Tanith! I can't believe it… I… I have a _dragon_!"

I smiled and gave Kyrie a thumbs up. If anyone here deserved a dragon, it was her. And then I set Tiara off to fetch Imani.

* * *

Another hour passed. I went over my list.

_Gold: 1 hatched, 1 lost, 1 dud_

_Bronze: 0 hatched, 2 dud _

_Brown: 0 hatched, 2 dud_

_Blue: 1 hatched, 1 lost, 2 dud_

_Green: 1 hatched, 2 lost, 4 dud_

Three more to go. A queen and two others.

I could tell the boys were getting impatient. Mostly Ezekiel. I couldn't really blame him in this situation. I think even Luka had nodded off. With Kyrie gone, I was bored out of my mind. I ended up doodling on the margins of my notepad. Tiara sat perched on my shoulder, attentively watching the remaining eggs.

I was beginning to nod off myself when Tiara let out an excited chirp. I snapped wide awake, immediately looking towards the eggs.

All three of them were shaking. The smaller of the three gave the most visible shake, while the queen barely so much as stirred. But they were _moving_. That was all I could ask for.

I heaved myself up onto my feet right as the smaller egg began to crack. Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed the boys coming to attention to. It became clear that this one was meant for them, because the dragon that wiggled itself out of the battered eggshell was brown.

I'd read that it was possible for women to bond with browns, but it was extremely rare. I guess we'd just have to wait and see what happened.

This little guy was about the average size for a cat—not too big, not too little. He was a deep, rich shade of dark brown, almost like mud. On the inside of his wings, and the back and front of his neck, his hide was an orangey brown. Brown and orange splotches splattered his shoulders, halfway up the sides of his neck. But his eyes whirled red-orange, which meant he was very unhappy.

But as he begun to skulk around, the other egg cracked. Fracture lines spread out from that crack, until the eggshell shattered and a small bronze dragon emerged. If there was any doubt that these dragons would go to the boys, this one was for sure. Similar to golds, bronzes only ever bonded with men.

At least, I hoped one of them would bond with one of the guys. Having a gold was great and all, but we can't save the dragons without a bronze or brown. I hated feeling so powerless to help these creatures… They were part of our history, but they were also living beings. They had died out once before… I didn't want to see it happen again.

The bronze was somewhat bigger than the brown, but still obviously smaller than Jezrieth. He was vivid, warm shade of bronze, with darker points on his nose, his legs, and the ends of his wings. Despite the simplicity, he was a handsome little guy.

The two dragons looked around, whirling that red-orange. I watched with anticipation, hoping that neither of them would die in the next few minutes. Even Tiara was attentive, sitting upright, her claws digging into my shoulders.

The brown moved first. He skulked forward, completely ignoring me to approach Luka and Ezekiel. He approached Luka first, sniffed at his boot, snorted, and then immediately moved onto Ezekiel. In a display of what might have been empathy, Ezekiel crouched down to get closer to the brown. Another moment passed, as the little dragon seemed to eye him skeptically, but his eyes began to whirl rainbows.

Ezekiel looked up, a big grin on his face, and was about to say something, only to be interrupted by the bronze tearing across the Hatching Sands to ram himself right into Luka's legs. Luka's eyes widened in shock as the bronze fell back on his rear and looked up at him, his eyes a multitude of brilliant colors.

Ezekiel looked up to Luka with a smirk. "So, we got ours, huh? This guy's name is Rath. What about yours?"

Luka smiled sheepishly. "Osmuth."

"YES!" I cheered, drawing their attention to me. Even Tiara chirped happily. "This is great, guys!"

I was about to head over to them to congratulate them, when a loud _CRACK_ stopped all of us in our tracks. All of us, including the baby dragons, turned to see the final egg give a violent shake, a single fissure running down the side of the pale shell.

The queen… She was finally hatching.

This last egg had been moving before, but my hopes that it would hatch and find a partner had been slim. I was the only one left. And in all of my fantasies, I had never even considered myself worthy of a queen. Even as a child, hearing stories about the dragonriders, my daydreams and doodles had only ever been of green dragons.

A head burst through the fissure, closely followed by a body, as the tiny queen shimmied herself out of the misty eggshell. She stumbled at the last minute, nearly tripping over her own legs.

My eyes widened in awe. I had thought all of the dragons had been beautiful, but this gold… She was absolutely dazzling.

The little gold was almost the complete opposite of the other queen. Her hide was a bright rose gold that seemed to ripple and and shine in the afternoon sunlight, as she tried to regain her balance. She started out a pale white gold under her wings and along her belly, but the color deepened and darkened into a brilliant, fiery shade of gold along her legs and back. She looked like she belonged in the sunlight.

Something about this one was different. As she gathered herself with a surprising amount of dignity, I found myself pulled towards her. But I was still in so much shock and awe that I was unable to move.

The queen looked around, her eyes only whirling orange. She seemed panicked for a moment—until she spotted me.

_Arya!_

A voice sounded in my head—low and resonant, reminiscent of ringing bells. It chimed in my mind like a perfect melody. It soothed all my worries and anxieties over this entire situation.

The rose gold queen ran over to me, not wasting another moment. _I had been so worried you would be gone, that I would be too late. But you're still here._

My eyes widened. _You know me?_

_Of course,_ she said. _All of us have been watching… waiting to see if your group would find us. Our physical forms may have been frozen, but our minds weren't. It has been… very lonely, waiting. I worried you would never return._

Oh… That sounded absolutely horrible. I crouched down to get closer to her. But return? What did that mean? I had never been here before.

I winced. _I'm so sorry you had to wait so long._

_It no longer matters. My name is Kizath._ The queen's eyes whirled that beautiful array of rainbows as she reached out to press her head against my hand, which I realized I had been holding out. _We are together at last. I will never leave your side ever again._

Kizath… What a perfect name.

Without a second thought, I scooped the little dragon into my arms, hugging her. "Welcome to our family, Kizath."

Tiara chirped happily, looking down at the other queen. That made me smile. They would get along just fine.

For the first time in my life, the feeling that something was _missing_, that some part of me was _gone_… completely vanished.


	3. Pern's Decree

**DRAGONRISE**

* * *

**CHAPTER 3: PERN'S DECREE**

* * *

_4.1.507 After Thread._

* * *

I read the letter. And then I read it a second time. The fact that the Masterharper found it safer to deliver a written note by firelizard than by just calling me via cell phone told me all I needed to know.

_Rider,_

_Fort has already learned of the dragons' existence. I do not know how this information came to them. I fear that we may have a mole… or something more sinister is afoot. I'd like to believe I still have eyes and ears everywhere in Pern, but I am not so certain anymore. Be on your guard._

_Fort has dispatched their secret service to retrieve you and escort you to the Hold. The Lord Holder of Fort wishes to meet with you and your fellow dragonriders._

_Be careful, Rider. I can no longer protect you. _

_-Master_

It had been a day since the hatching. We'd been busy caring for our newborn dragons. I had found the time to write to the Masterharper when Kizath finally feel asleep. And here we were. What did the Lord Holder even want? This wasn't like the days of old. The Weyrs were gone. There was no Thread. The title of _dragonrider_ didn't mean that much anymore.

We'd have to make it mean something again.

_You are concerned._ Kizath's voice chimed in my head. I still had to get used to this. _Is this 'Lord Holder' a threat?_

I winced. _He could be._

Regardless, I needed to write a response before these officers or whatever they were showed up. The green firelizard who had delivered the message was on the other side of my tent, hopping around Tiara where she laid on my cot, trying to entice her into playing. Kizath also lay on the cot, curled up, watching them with amusement.

_I see,_ Kizath said. _Well, I will not let any harm befall you._

I didn't want to remind her that she was the size of a cat and probably could do nothing to actually protect me, but… she was adamant about this. Instead, I picked up my pen and began to jot down my reply.

_Master, _

_Thank you for the warning. We will be careful. _

_I've become well aware in the past 24 hours, the first 24 hours of my new life as a dragonrider, that we are on our own, just like the dragonriders before us. But that's all right. _

_We have a long way to go… I can tell that much already. But Kizath and I have no choice but to believe in us and the unity that we will someday have. I have no idea what our future holds, or what even lies in the future of Pern. But the dragonriders are here to stay. We will ensure that._

_We'll be okay. I promise._

_-Rider_

I rolled up the note, sealed it with wax, and then called the green firelizard back over. It let out a sad chirp, giving Tiara one last forlorn look, before hopping off the cot and gliding over to perch on my desk. I gave the rolled note to the firelizard.

"Ensure this gets to the Masterharper," I told it.

The little green chirped. Clutching the paper in its claws, it leaped off the desk, flew off a few feet away, and then blinked _between_. I sighed, realizing I never sat down, and let myself plop down into my chair.

Finally, a chance to breathe.

There was a tapping on my tent flap. "Uh, Arya?"

...I spoke too soon.

I heaved myself out of my chair and walked over to open the tent flap. Unsurprisingly, it was Luka. His bronze, Osmuth, had found a way to lay on his shoulders, curled around his neck. I bet that was much easier than walking, with how gangling the hatchlings were.

"What now?" I sighed.

Luka smiled sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head. "Elara and Zeke are at it again. Jezrieth and Rath aren't helping."

"Of course," I muttered. "I guess them learning to get along in twenty-four hours was too much to ask." _Kizath, we're needed._ "Let me get Kizath and we'll deal with it."

Luka sighed in relief. "Thanks… They won't listen to me _or_ Osmuth."

I fought the urge to wince. That was no surprise… I would never say it to his face, but Luka didn't exactly emanate an aura of authority. I knew he had to have it in him; otherwise, Osmuth never would have chosen him. It was something he would have to grow into.

It was the same for all of us.

"Don't worry about it," I said, before slipping back inside my tent.

I walked over to my cot. I scooped up Kizath to bring with me, while Tiara decided she wanted to come along too and jumped up onto my shoulders to curl up like usual. Once we were back outside the tent, I set Kizath down. I noticed Osmuth was now on the ground too; he must have wanted down so he could walk with Kizath.

We walked across the camp, to where the main tent had been set up. Already, I could hear the voices of them arguing. So, with my arms crossed over my chest, I pushed aside the tarp and stepped inside with Luka and our dragons. We walked in just in time to hear Ezekiel's next quip.

"Yeah, well, at least I didn't get my _arranged marriage_ canceled," he retorted to whatever we'd just missed.

My eyes widened. "Wait, what?"

I looked over at Elara. She sat across from Ezekiel at the table. Jezrieth was on the table, crouched like a cat, facing off with Rath, who was _also_ on the table. The brown sat up, glowering at the queen across from them. Both sets of dragon eyes whirled orange with irritation. But Elara sat hunched, arms crossed. She scowled at Ezekiel, not acknowledging my question.

"That's none of your business," she snapped.

"Oh wow, you won't even tell your _best friend_," he said incredulously.

Elara scowled even harder. "We're _not_ friends."

Yikes… Thanks for the confirmation, I guess. I knew things wouldn't magically get better, but I didn't expect her to say that so… _officially_. But I couldn't let it phase me. I was here to break up the fight before it escalated further. And knowing them… it _would_.

"Yes, well, could you two stop fighting for five minutes?" I said flatly, drawing their attention to me. "We're supposed to be a _team_. This-" I gestured to Kyrie and Alexei, where they sat at the other end of the table with their dragons, and then at them. "-is _not_ teamwork."

"Where have you been?" Alex's voice cut through the tent, catching us all by surprise. He sat stiffly, watching us all with cold blue eyes. "We're never going to be a team."

Silence fell, like a hollow echo. I hadn't expected to hear that out of _his_ mouth. But the fact that Alex said it… made it sound like truth—an ultimatum. I wanted to reject the thought and say he was wrong, but… there had been no real proof of that. I was at a loss for words.

"Alex, don't say things like that," Kyrie said, eyes wide.

He looked down at the table, where Zeruth sat, watching him. "It's true, though. Look at us. We're supposed to be the new dragonriders? What a joke."

"He's right." Elara glowered down at her hands. "I love Jezrieth, but… we're not the dragonriders from the stories. We're not heroes."

I sighed, closing my eyes for a moment. "We don't _have_ to be."

Everyone looked at me in surprise.

"We don't have to be like the dragonriders of old," I said. "We're _not_ them. We're not going to be like them. And that's all right."

No one said a word. They just stared at me. Kyrie, Luka, and Alexei all had wide eyes, completely caught off guard. Elara scrutinized me. Ezekiel watched me with skepticism.

"There's no Thread to fight. The Red Star isn't a threat," I said. "We just have to be ourselves. We have to find our own path. Sure, we may not be a team right now—but we _will_ be someday. Just… give yourselves some time. We're still getting used to this."

_It will be okay,_ Kizath said firmly, her voice chiming in everyone's mind. _We will be okay._

I nodded in agreement. "Exactly."

I heard someone clear their throat behind me. I turned around to see none other than Imani.

"I hate to interrupt this heartfelt moment," she said, "but hovercraft are headed this way."

...Right. That was happening. I sighed, and turned back around to face the others.

"Everyone, pack up… We're going to Fort Hold."

* * *

I wasn't sure what this 'secret service' even was. Soldiers? Spies? Harpers sworn to Fort? Politics weren't exactly my specialty. All I knew was that as soon as the hovercraft landed, men in black suits filed out, armed with guns, and escorted us onto the craft. They weren't friendly in the slightest. In fact, I was pretty sure they frightened Kyrie.

This entire situation made me uneasy. What was Fort's problem? We hadn't done anything wrong.

Imani and Imansk stayed behind. Imani told me she would be reporting back to the Masterharper. That made me feel slightly better.

The flight back to Fort Hold was tense. Everyone sat rigidly, their dragons on their laps. The armed men stood around, watching us. The leader said that the Lord Holder had simply ordered them to take precautions. But I didn't believe a word he said. All I could think about was how the Masterharper warned that he could no longer protect me.

Just what was going on?

The flight to Fort didn't take long. I knew the city well, since the Harper Hall was here. But I never imagined I'd return home like _this_.

Fort Hold, like all the other Holds of old, served as the capital of its country. The protection of stone was no longer needed with Thread gone, so the Holds had expanded throughout their territories. Over the past five centuries, they went from nobles' territories to countries. The leadership still belonged to the Lord Holders, but only to those who had major holds. The lords and ladies of minor holds lost their power a long time ago. It was just how things were. Pern had changed, but some things remained the same.

The Hold was mostly the same, except for technological developments. It had been expanded on, transforming it into a city around the walls that had once protected its citizens from Thread. It wasn't quite as grand as Landing, but modern buildings and towers now surrounded the ancient Hold. Humanity had flourished over the past five hundred years.

The hovercraft landed on a landing pad just outside of Fort Castle. The secret service then had us take our dragons and file out, while others took our belongings. Kyrie stuck close to me as we were led inside the castle, holding Tanith close to her chest. Everyone else was quiet and cautious. None of us knew what any of this meant.

We were shown to a waiting room inside the castle. The secret service remained, standing guard, with their weapons at a ready. Just what were they expecting? Dragonriders had never been violent. Dragons had been engineered to be the exact opposite of violent. I didn't like any of this. I wished the Masterharper had been able to tell me more.

No one told us when we were leaving. Instead, individual members of the secret service began to come in at intervals to retrieve us. The first came for Kyrie.

"Miss Clark," a steely voice said, drawing everyone's attention to the doorway that opened into the hall that led out of the waiting room. A woman stood there, hands clasped behind her back, looking very, very professional. "We will be taking you back to the Healer Hall now."

Kyrie's eyes widened. She glanced over at me, worry and skepticism in her eyes.

I reached out and placed my hand over hers. "Go home, Kyrie."

_It will be all right,_ Kizath added for me, so only she could hear.

Kyrie bit her bottom lip, but nodded. Scooping Tanith back into her arms, since the green had been sitting on her lap, she stood up and walked over to where the woman waited. I watched as they disappeared down the hall.

It went on like this for a few hours. About half an hour after Kyrie and Tanith left, someone came for Luka and Alexei. They exchanged glances before gathering up Osmuth and Zeruth and left. Another full hour passed before anyone came for Ezekiel. He looked over at Elara and me, gave a shrug, picked up Rath, and left with them. And that left the two of us and our dragons.

I went back to playing games on my phone to pass the time. Tiara was always so mesmerized by these games, with their flashy colors. Kizath watched, but only out of curiosity.

"Lady O'Rinn and Harper Drake."

I looked up to see a man standing in the doorway, waiting for us. He was middle-aged, with neatly cut graying brown hair and a matching beard. His eyes were brown, but had a cold, calculating edge to them. Unlike the others who had retrieved us, he was dressed in chainmail and a tabard depicting Fort Hold's colors and coat of arms. Even to this day, the personal guard of the Lord and Lady Holders dressed traditionally. I saw this man was also armed traditionally with a sword, but I knew better than that. He had a gun hidden somewhere, much like I did. It made no sense otherwise.

"Lord Tancred wishes to meet with both of you personally," the man said. "My name is Guarin, and I am the captain of the Fort Hold Guard."

Elara stood up, lifting Jezrieth up onto her shoulders. "I already know who you are, Guarin."

"Yes, but Miss Drake does not." He turned. "I suggest you make haste. Lord Tancred does not like to be kept waiting."

I fought the urge to roll my eyes. Typical. I was more interested in the fact that Elara already knew this man. That meant she had met the Lord Holder of Fort. I wasn't surprised by this new knowledge—merely intrigued.

Elara's family owned O'Rinn Industries, a corporation that designed and built weapons. They were incredibly rich… and incredibly powerful. Pern had never been at war with itself before—at least in written history—but with the O'Rinn weapons, we could easily destroy ourselves. It was no surprise that Elara was acquainted with nobility, much less a nation leader himself. As far as I knew, she was still the heir to the O'Rinns' empire.

I gathered up Kizath, and with Tiara on my shoulder, I followed after them. Guarin led us out of the waiting room and into a hallway. There, an entire retinue of guard waited for us.

"Figures," Elara muttered under her breath. I glanced over at her. "Of course they're scared by baby dragons."

Keeping my voice low, I asked, "Do you have any idea what this is about?"

"No idea," she said quietly, not looking at me. "But I have a gut feeling that this has nothing to do with us being the queenriders."

I didn't respond, because they began to lead us along then.

Being surrounded by armed guards did nothing to make me feel safe. They ushered us further into the castle, Guarin leading the way. I immediately began to take note of our surroundings, mapping out an escape plan in my mind… _just in case_. The Fort government had given me no reason to trust them. Even the dragons and firelizard were uneasy, their eyes whirling yellow-orange.

Guarin and the guard led us all the way to the throne room. As soon as we stepped inside, the guards put some distance between us, shifting to stand closer to the walls. Guarin walked all the way up to the throne, dropping down to one knee in a bow. But Elara and I did not bow to the man sitting on the throne.

I had met some of the Lord and Lady Holders before—mostly in the South. But they had been friendly and diplomatic. The man before me now did not give me that vibe.

He leaned back in the throne, his elbow propped up on one of the arms. He appeared to be middle-aged, but younger than his guard-captain, with slicked back golden blond hair, pale skin like he didn't get out enough, and blue eyes as cold as ice. He was dressed very sophisticated in a black suit, completed with a cravat.

"May I present to you Lady Elara O'Rinn and Harper Arya Drake, my lord," Guarin said.

But Lord Tancred was not alone. A young man stood by the side of the throne. Something about him was… strikingly familiar, but I couldn't place it. He had to be around my age. He had straight dark brown hair, with his bangs parted to the left, and blue-grey eyes. He was dressed a lot more casually, in a black button-up shirt, jeans, and hiking boots. He didn't look very happy to be here.

But then I realized what was so familiar about him. We… looked a lot alike. Though we did not share the same hair or eye color, he had a similar light tan and our facial structure wasn't all that different. We had the same eye shape… the same nose. It was almost like looking into a mirror. If he was as surprised to see me as I was him, he sure didn't show it.

Who _was_ he? And why did we look so similar?

"Lord Tancred," Elara greeted coolly. Her gaze flickered over to the guy. "...Jeshan."

So his name was _Jeshan_… I made a mental note of that.

"Don't sound so _displeased_ to see us, Elara," Tancred said dryly, not moving from his relaxed position. He looked more amused than anything else. "After all, it is _your_ fault that your marriage to my boy here was canceled."

"Wait, what?" I looked over at Elara. "Is this what Ezekiel was talking about?"

Elara scowled, once again not giving me a single glance. "Yes. And it's still none of your business."

I narrowed my eyes. She was hiding something.

"Oh? The Harper does not know?" Tancred's gaze now landed on me. "I thought it was a Harper's duty to be knowledgeable on all comings and goings."

I fought the urge to wince. "My specialty lies elsewhere, my lord."

"Ah, yes. The Masterharper did mention something about that." Tancred frowned thoughtfully. "Something about history, as opposed to recent and current events."

"Something along those lines, yes," I replied.

"Well, it was _all_ over the news. Jeshan and Elara's wedding was going to be the _biggest_ event of the year!" Tancred sighed dejectedly. "Everyone was clamoring for an invitation… It truly was a pity we had to break the engagement."

Elara simply scowled harder, her hands clenched into fists. Even Jezrieth had tensed where she was curled up around her rider's shoulders, her eyes now a vivid red. A blind man could see that both of them were furious. Shards, what had happened?

"Why did you end the engagement?" I asked, narrowing my eyes. "Marrying into the O'Rinn family would be very… profitable for you, wouldn't you say?"

I wasn't an idiot. I knew _exactly_ why this arranged marriage had come to be, whether the involved parties wanted it or not. And judging by their expressions, neither of them had wanted this. I didn't know many folks who would want to be part of an arranged marriage. Those kinds of marriages were of the past. Choosing who you married… marrying who you loved… it was a privilege that Pern was now allowed.

"It would have, yes," Tancred agreed, but I noticed his shift in demeanor. He must have realized I had caught onto his ruse. "But alas, Lady Elara ruined it all when she _assaulted_ my eldest son."

I opened my mouth to retort, ready to say that Elara was many things, but not violent. We may not be friends anymore, but I still knew her well. But I never got the chance.

"It wasn't assault and you _know_ it," Elara spat. "It was _self-defense_."

...Well, this took a turn that I hadn't expected.

Tancred sighed dramatically. "Elara, please. The police have already settled the matter. They all agreed that my son's testimony was the truth. You're lucky enough he didn't want you locked in prison for the rest of your life. Geoff saved your entire future."

Elara was about to retort again, but shut her mouth, returning to her perpetual scowl. She crossed her arms over her chest and didn't say anything else. But I did notice that Jeshan had rolled his eyes at his father's words. Hm. This called for an investigation.

"...Why did you want to see us again, Lord Tancred?" I asked, deciding that a change in conversation was needed.

"Ah, yes," Tancred mused, like he had just remembered. "There is a small issue. Your dragons."

"What's the issue with them?" I asked.

"Well, we… Well, if I may be frank, Pern, as a whole, has no _need_ or _desire_ to have the dragonriders return." The Lord Holder finally sat up straight, shifting to a seriousness I hadn't been sure was even possible. "We have no intentions to see the Weyrs rebuilt or the return of tithe. That era is of the past and should remain in the past."

"You act as if this was our intention," I said, narrowing my eyes. "I had no idea this would even happen. None of us knew there were eggs hidden in Fort Weyr. You can't punish us for something we didn't ask for."

Not that I regretted it at all. That was far from true. Kizath was the best thing that had ever happened to me. I wouldn't trade her for anything else.

"Irregardless, if you try to reinstate the Weyrs, you will be met with resistance." Tancred didn't even acknowledge a word I said. "Well, this has been a pleasant chat! You can be on your way now. Your families must miss you!"

Before either of us could respond, the guards marched up to us again. Guarin stood up and turned around to face us. Tiara let out an uncertain chirp, not liking being suddenly surrounded, her claws digging into my shoulder.

"We will escort you to the hovercraft that will take you to your respective homes," Guarin said.

I nodded, acknowledging that he had spoken. Today had been extremely weird… I had no idea what to expect next. I had no idea what I was supposed to even do now that we'd all been forcibly separated. They were keen on making sure we didn't unite. But honestly, what could a group of dragonriders only six strong do? They were awfully paranoid.

Guarin and the guards led us back to the landing pad, where two smaller hovercraft awaited us. I paused, glancing over at Elara. I was surprised to see her look at me at the exact same time. Neither of us said a word. Our dragons did the talking for us.

_We should keep in touch,_ Kizath said. _As loathe as I am to accept this… we both are the queens of this Weyr, whether we have a place to call home or not._

Right. Kizath and Jezrieth butted heads a _lot_ these past few days.

If dragons could roll their eyes, Jezrieth would have. _I suppose. We'll have nothing better to do anyway. From what I've seen, Elara's 'home' is incredibly dull._

_Then it's settled,_ Kizath said. _In the meantime… be careful. We don't know what we're up against._

_You don't have to tell me twice,_ Jezrieth snorted. _All I know is that these humans are out to get us. They've made that very clear._

_Agreed,_ Kizath said, almost with a sigh. _We will see each other again. Of that I am certain._

_Unfortunately,_ Jezrieth drawled.

We weren't allowed another moment after that. Elara was personally escorted onto her hovercraft by Guarin, while I was led by a retinue of guards.

We would return to the Harper Hall for now. But I already was formulating a plan in my head. Jezrieth was right—the government was out to get us. I wasn't sure where the others' allegiances laid, but Fort had made itself clear.

But I knew what I had read in that letter in Fort Weyr. I knew that these dragons were different from those of the past, in more ways than one. There was one person in the world that was more knowledgeable of dragons than I was. Once things had died down, I would have to seek him out.

His name was Theodore Schuler and he was the scientist that I had met for work a couple years back.


	4. Dawn of A New Era

**DRAGONRISE**

* * *

**CHAPTER 4: DAWN OF A NEW ERA**

* * *

_4.30.508 After Thread._

* * *

I finished writing down my notes, while Kizath waited patiently. Despite it being mid-spring, High Reaches Weyr remained chilly. The cool mountain air was refreshing, despite that. It was a good location for a flight—even though we were here for research purposes and not leisure. High Reaches was as untouched as Fort Weyr had been, if not more so. I had wanted to get into Benden Weyr, because of what that letter said, but Benden was staunch allies with Fort. High Reaches didn't care as much, so here I was.

A year had passed, more or less. A year of staying under the radar, letting Theo study Kizath, and keeping in touch with Elara via firelizard. I had no idea what to do next, even after months. I had no clue what the others were up to, besides Elara and Kyrie. The Masterharper kept me updated on the comings and goings of the Harper Hall and Healer Hall.

Nothing eventful had happened in the past year. It was almost as if the return of the dragons didn't matter.

I closed my notebook, stashed it away in my pack, and then walked back over to where Kizath waited. Thanks to the Harper archives, I'd been able to find information on how the dragonriders of old made their riding straps. The only thing I had decided to add was an actual saddle; the traditional riding straps were, well, just _straps_. I had passed this info to Elara, and hopefully the Masterharper passed it to the others.

_Are we ready to return?_ Kizath inquired.

Kizath had grown into a magnificent gold. She was even taller than a draft horse, standing at twenty-one hands. That made her seven feet tall at the shoulder. She was bulky and powerful in the shoulders, with broad wings that had proven perfect for gliding through the air. She was sturdy and muscular, but carried herself gracefully like any queen should. And her hide was as beautiful as ever as radiant as a sunrise.

I nodded. _Yes. There's not much else here for us, unfortunately._

_We will get into Benden,_ Kizath said, as she crouched down so I could climb up into the saddle. _Have patience. We'll find a way._

I hoped she was right.

"Let's go home," I said to both my dragon and firelizard. "Theo should have finished analyzing the new data."

Kizath unfurled her wings and took to the air. And then we went _between_. Seconds of pitch blackness and severe cold that penetrated right through my winter coat. There was no air in _between_—just an empty void. I had studied about going _between_ thoroughly before we even attempted it, because of the horror stories I'd read about. But then we appeared at our destination, right above the house where we'd been living for the past year. Kizath glided down to land.

Theodore Schuler lived in a farmhouse outside of High Reaches Hold. Spring was just reaching the northern expanses of the continent. Melting snow turned the ground into soggy mush, creating mud in some areas. My boots sank into the earth as I slid off Kizath's back. The ground squished under our feet as we walked closer to the farmhouse.

This place wasn't actually a farm—not anymore, anyway. Theo had purchased the property so he would have enough space for the fairs of firelizards he owned. It was obvious, with the dozens of them milling about. Some perched on the fence that belonged to an abandoned paddock. Inside that paddock were a menagerie of birdhouses, mailboxes, and dog houses that had been converted into homes for the firelizards. Theo wasn't bonded to all of them; most of them were wild ones that he had befriended. The firelizards he was actually bonded to lived inside the house with him.

Theo was very self-sufficient. He had his own electrical system fueled by the windmill further back on the property. He had his own garden where he grew vegetables for food. And since it was just a garden, he still had plenty of time for his research. Kizath and I had easily fit into his daily routine, without disrupting much. He had been gracious enough to let us stay here—on the stipulation that he got to study Kizath's growth and progress. It was a win-win situation.

I walked towards the house. It was a modest two-story farmhouse, painted green, with a gabled roof. Icicles still hung from the gutters, half melted and dripping away. Kizath followed me, even though she wouldn't be able to fit inside. Once we were done checking in on Theo's progress, she'd go join the firelizards in the paddock.

But a familiar chirp stopped me in my tracks. I looked over to see that Tiara had materialized right beside me. She let out another happy chirp, before darting over to land on my shoulder, holding out an envelope to me. I accepted it from her.

Tiara had been instrumental in keeping in touch with Elara, since she had no firelizard of her own. Despite her lackadaisical nature, Tiara had been vigilant about this duty I'd bestowed upon her. She'd lost all that extra weight from having to go back and forth so much.

"Thanks, girl," I said, giving her an appreciative scratch.

Not waiting another moment, I opened up the envelope and took out the letter waiting inside. This response had taken the longest to get to me. I had sent my last reply over a week ago. I'd gotten worried… Something must have happened. Elara was a lot of things, but forgetful was not one of them.

I unfolded the piece of stationary. I remembered in our first exchange, Elara joked that she finally had a reason to use all of the fancy stationary she'd been given over the years.

* * *

_Ari,_

_Sorry this took so long. My parents have kept me super busy and have been watching us more closely. Jezrieth is literally standing guard at my door just so I can have some time to myself. At least no one will dare cross HER. _

_My parents have been trying to mend the rift our family has with House Fort. I think they still want me to marry into that family. I overheard them talking about it yesterday. They're considering Geoff instead of Jeshan. Then they told me about it in person just this morning. I just… I can't believe it. My parents have NEVER cared about what I want. They just order me around and expect me to be okay with it. Well, I'm NOT okay with it. I'll NEVER be okay with it._

_I can't marry Geoff. I refuse._

_You want to know why I got arrested? I found out something utterly disgusting about House Fort. I was staying at the castle for some 'bonding' with the women of the family. I was bored out of my mind, so I was wandering around. I saw something I never want to see again. And then Geoff caught me. He threatened me, saying that if I didn't keep quiet, he'd put me in my place. That pissed me off, so I punched him. Broke his nose. He ran to his daddy with his tail tucked between his legs, crying foul. He was the one who threatened me! _

_I want nothing to do with that man or his family._

_I need your help. We have to discredit House Fort. They're the source of our troubles as dragonriders, too. But Jezrieth and I can't do it alone._

_Father is planning a huge ball to announce the engagement. I suggested he invite you and the other dragonriders but I don't know if he'll bite. If you just show up as my guest, he'll have no choice but to include you. After the ball, you can stay in the mansion and we can start devising our plan. Jez is normally pretty clever but her hatred of Geoff has made her suggestions of what to do more… aggressive. _

_I know I'm kind of just demanding your help, but… Jays, I don't know what else to do, Ari. Please… We really need your help._

_-Elara_

* * *

I stood there for a moment, processing what I had just read. Shards… That had escalated quickly. I had heard unpleasant stories about the O'Rinns when we were kids, but as I got older, I'd always assumed it was just because Elara was a brat.

Maybe I had been too quick to judge her. Maybe she had been going through a lot at home. Maybe she still was.

I didn't want to waste any time. I pulled out my notebook and pen to write up a quick reply.

_Elara,_

_A ball? That I can do. It would be rude to refuse a Harper entrance, anyway. Let me know when._

_We can talk more about what's going on in person. I'll be there. I promise._

_-Arya_

I carefully ripped the page out of my notebook, and then returned the notebook and pen to my pack. I folded up the paper and slipped it inside the envelope in place of the letter she had sent. I tucked the flap inside, and handed it back to Tiara.

"Get this back to Elara, okay?"

The gold firelizard chirped. And with the letter clutched in her claws, she took off and blinked _between_. With that settled, I looked over at Kizath.

"I'm heading inside."

She nodded. _I shall wait here._

I walked up to the door, opened it, and stepped inside. Almost immediately, I was greeted by a chorus of chirping firelizards, followed by a swarm.

"Yes, yes, I'm still here," I laughed, gently pushing them away. "Sorry Tiara isn't back yet. I know you guys miss her."

There was no queen in Theo's bonded fair, so Tiara had become a leader of sorts among them. She'd even had a clutch with Theo's bronze. Naturally, Theo had freaked out over having baby firelizards to study, since wild ones were impossible to catch. I had thought of bonding with one or two of them, but decided against it. I had my hands full with Kizath and Tiara.

"We're back!" I announced more loudly, as I made my way further into the house, the fair of firelizards dispersing.

The farmhouse was quaint and surprisingly homey for a scientist who rarely spent time outside of his lab. Honestly, I figured most of the decorations had already been here when he bought the place, or had been given as gifts. It was very… rustic. Which was the complete opposite of Theodore Schuler. The walls were green, hung with scenic paintings and stuffed animal heads. The furniture was a patchwork of different pieces.

I headed to the back, where the laboratory had been built onto the house. Unsurprisingly, the door was shut. I knocked on the door before opening it and peeking inside.

"Hey, Theo, we're back," I called in.

This laboratory was a modest one. Everything was pristine and white for safety. There were different tables throughout the room, pressed up against the walls and loaded with machinery and other equipment. The only piece of technology here that I was really familiar with was the computer on Theo's main desk all the way on the other side of the room, pressed against the farthest wall. And that was where the scientist was, sitting at his desk.

He looked up at the sound of my voice. "Oh, Arya! Come in, come in. I've just finished analyzing the data I took yesterday."

I stepped inside the room and walked on over. Theo's desk was a mess, covered in papers and notebooks, haphazardly organized. Sticky notes were plastered everywhere. Above the desk was both a corkboard and a light board. Sketches of dragon anatomy and other notes were pinned to the corkboard, while x-rays of Kizath hung on the lightboard, even though it was turned off. I stopped next to him, folding my arms over my chest.

"What did you find out?" I asked.

Theodore Schuler was not nearly as messy as his desk. His straight light brown hair was kept short and neat, bangs parted to the side. He was kind of pale, from spending so much time indoors. His green eyes sat behind black rimmed glasses. He was dressed in a light blue striped dress shirt over a white button-up tucked into blue slacks, completed with a black belt and matching loafers. He was twenty-seven years old.

"As you know, I've been studying dragon hormones, trying to determine when they complete growing," Theo said, returning his attention to his desk. "Kizath does seem to have reached physical maturity, and her hormone levels support this. However… I've been more concerned in regards to the dragons' sexual maturity. The future of the dragons rests in our hands, after all."

Right. Over the past year, I had asked for copies of everything written about dragons from the library in the Harper Hall. I'd wanted to refresh my memory on everything that I'd studied over the years.

The most concerning part about being a dragonrider was the mating flights. The dragonriders had had some… troubling traditions regarding that. Those 'traditions' were long in the past, but we hadn't had dragons in such a long time. I was concerned more so about how the dragons' empathetic field would affect everyone else when the moment came.

"We're talking about queens here, but what about greens?" I asked. "I haven't heard anything about this from the Harper Hall, so I assume Tanith hasn't had her maiden flight. But greens always rose much earlier than golds."

"Indeed," Theo agreed. This time, he swiveled in his chair to face me. "It's common knowledge that greens begin rising to mate at twelve months. A year has passed since the dragons hatched, but Tanith remains on the ground. It's quite intriguing."

_A dragon will never do anything that could harm their rider._ Kizath's voice chimed in my mind. _Tanith's rider is still young. Much too young to experience such things. As long as her rider is not ready, Tanith will not rise._

That… made sense. It made a lot of sense. And it was a relief to hear. I didn't want to worry about something horrible happening to Kyrie. She was like a little sister to me. I'd do anything to protect her.

"Kizath says that it's because Kyrie is young," I said. "Tanith knows she's not… ready. So she has no urge to rise."

Theo frowned thoughtfully. "How fascinating… So it is the empathetic and psychological bond between human and dragon that prevents the biological process." He swiveled his chair back around to face his desk to jot this down. "I never even considered this a possibility. This changes a few things."

Of course he was more focused on the science. I fought the urge to roll my eyes. This man was truly oblivious about some things. After a year, I did consider him a good friend, but jays. When we first met and I had to get a hold of his research for the Harpers, he hadn't even realized I'd asked him out on a date. He literally just thought I wanted to talk about dragons. Which, of course, was my real motive, but _still_. Someone could strip in front of him and he would ask if they were too warm.

"Right," I said. "But what about Kizath? Have you figured out how long it will be until the queens rise? Is it still when they're three years old?"

"I have analyzed the data I gained from all the tests we took, along with the ultrasounds," Theo said, once again, turning in his chair to face me. "I don't believe it will be three years—er, well, two years now. Kizath is much smaller than the queens of old. My hypothesis is that it took years for Ramoth and Kalianth and the other queens because they were so large. But neither Kizath nor Jezrieth have that bulk. The readings suggest that the time to sexual maturity has been halved. I predict that they will be ready to mate at eighteen months—so, in half a year, give or take a few months."

In six months… Shards. That was a lot less time than I was expecting.

"We have to get the group back together, then," I said, frowning thoughtfully. "I don't want to see what happens if there's no dragons to chase Kizath or Jezrieth. Nothing like that has been recorded in history."

"Didn't Fort imply that any reformation of a Weyr would result in retaliation?" Theo asked.

"I never said we were forming a Weyr." I turned away from him. "But we can't be separated like this. We shouldn't have been in the first place. And on that topic—we'll be leaving soon. Elara needs my help. Once everything is settled with her, I'll try to get the rest of the team together."

Theo's eyes widened. "What about my research?"

I fought the urge to groan. "Well, Theo, when this is done, you'll have _all_ the dragons to study. Until then, you'll just have to wait."

He sighed. "Fair enough. When are you leaving?"

"Not sure yet, but soon." I turned to go. "I have things to take care of first. I'll let you know when I know."

I excused myself then, leaving the laboratory. As soon as I shut the door behind me, Tiara blinked from _between_, holding a rolled up piece of paper. She handed me the paper, and then landed on my shoulder. I immediately unrolled it to read.

_It's in a sevenday: the 7th day of the 5th month._

_Don't keep me waiting._

I snorted. Typical Elara. She was demanding as always. But she knew how to assert her presence, I'd give her that. That air of authority was perhaps one of the aspects that drew Jezrieth to her. Unfortunately, a lot of that aura manifested as bossiness. At least she wasn't so rude about it anymore.

I pulled a pen out of my pack to jot down a quick reply.

_Oh, hold your horses. I'll be there tomorrow. I have my own things I have to do, you know. _

_We'll plan our strategy from then on out. It WILL be okay, I promise. I've got your back._

I handed the note back to Tiara. She gave an understanding chirp, jumped off my shoulder, and disappeared _between_ once again.

And with that taken care of, I went to my room to begin packing. I had a lot of work to do.


End file.
